WIMBLEDON: Andy Murray has confirmed that it is unlikely he could be ready in time to contest the singles tournament at the US Open later this year.
The former world No.1 outlined his current situation following his latest victory in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon with Serena Williams. Murray is contesting only his third tournament since undergoing hip resurfacing surgery. At present, his focus in solely on the doubles as he continues his recovery and builds up his body.
“I think it’s pretty unlikely just in terms of timing. I spoke to my team a bit about that yesterday. Just a lot of stuff I need to get done physically, get myself stronger.” The 32-year-old commented about potentially playing singles in the coming weeks.
“The amount of work I need to do on the court to get ready for singles, the amount of work I need to put in off the court to get myself strong enough to play best-of-five sets, it’s still quite a ways away, unfortunately.”
There has been recent speculation about when Murray would be ready to return. One of the possibilities mentioned is in Glasgow at a Challenger event in September. Earlier this year the tournament was renamed the ‘Murray Trophy’ in honor of the legacy created by the Brit and his family.
However, Murray has insisted that he will be placing no timeframe concerning when and where he will conduct the next stage of his comeback. Fearing that if he returns too soon, it could lead to more injury setbacks. Since 2017, Murray has undergone two hip operations and was on the brink of being forced to quit the sport.
“I don’t want to be having to go through another big operation in a few years’ time.” He explained.
“I want to make sure the operation I’ve had lasts for as long as possible. To give it the best chance, I need to make sure that I’m physically really strong before I get back on the singles court.”
On Tuesday Murray and Williams secured a place in the third round of the mixed doubles. The duo defeated 14th seeds Fabrice Martin and Raquel Atawo 7-5, 6-3. Setting up a clash with top seeds Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar. Since his return to the tour last month, Murray has won one ATP trophy at the Fever-Tree Championships alongside Feliciano Lopez in the men’s doubles.
“Once you start playing matches again, things tend to hurt a little bit at the beginning. You build up that robustness by competing, playing matches kind of week after week, day after day.” Murray explained.
“That’s hopefully what I’ll be able to do in these next few months once I get back on the match court, hopefully, stay there, not have to take too many breaks.”
Murray and Williams will return to the courts at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
